Chicago Injury Lawyer Blog
A psychologist at the Tinley Park Mental Health Center has been charged with sexual misconduct with a person with a disability and with official misconduct stemming from his alleged conduct with a patient at the State of Illinois run facility. According to reports, 66 year old Robert Eizinga of Tinley Park, IL, has been accused of manipulating and misleading a psychological patient into engaging in sexual acts with him and then offering her money to keep quiet. The accused has been an employee of the Illinois Department of Human Services for over 20 years. In that capacity he has both counseled psychological patients and worked as a court liaison to the state’s attorney’s office and to the Guardianship and Advocacy Commission health attorneys.
A news release from the Cook County State’s Attorneys Office has indicated that the victim was a 45 year old woman admitted to the institution for depression on April 25th. Eizinga allegedly threatened to keep the victim at the facility or transfer her to another mental health hospital unless she acquiesced to his sexual advances. The sexual abuse victim reportedly contacted her sister following the second instance of sexual contact at which point the victim was discharged from the facility. Eizinga then reportedly purchased a cellular telephone for the sexual abuse victim and gave her money in the hopes that she would not go to the police. The victim filed a formal complaint on May 12 at which time the accused was placed on administrative leave. He appeared in the Circuit Court of Cook County Bridgeview on Thursday where bail was set at $150,000.00.
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